Chadwick Boseman, who played Jackie Robinson in "42," will portray James Brown in an untitled biopic of the soul singer.

"The Help" director Tate Taylor will helm the Universal Pictures movie from a script by "Fair Game" writers Jez and John-Henry Butterworth. Brian Grazer will produce, as will another backer who knows a thing or two about stage presence -- Mick Jagger, under his Jagged Films banner.

The long-gestating project, which has been in the works since before Brown died in 2006, will chart the singer's ascent from poverty in Augusta, Ga., to his place as the Godfather of Soul, tirelessly performing such hit songs as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and "I Got You (I Feel Good)."

With his performance as Robinson earlier this year, Boseman demonstrated the necessary charisma to play an iconic figure -- that movie went on to gross a strong $95 million at the domestic box office, and Boseman earned praise from critics for the tenacity of his portrayal.

"The actor brings real force and dignity to the part, as well as a fierceness that will not be pushed around," Kenneth Turan wrote in the Los Angeles Times.

In an interview with The Times in January, Boseman described playing the ground-breaking Brooklyn Dodger as a high-stakes endeavor -- one likely to be matched by his new gig.

"It's intimidating because everybody has their interest in who he is," Boseman said of playing Robinson. "He's a lot of different things to a lot of different people. And none of them are necessarily the correct thing."

Even in a summer that's focused on creativity, with exceptional documentaries like "Amy" on Amy Winehouse and "What Happened, Miss Simone?" on Nina Simone, "Listen to Me Marlon" stands out. Autobiographical in nature, unconventional in structure, this is the story of Marlon Brando not as the world...

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The nightclub singer returns from a concentration camp, battered and disfigured, roaming like an apparition through a ruined city toward her husband's betrayal. The war has not yet settled into history, and the chanteuse is desperate to resurrect a charmed life forever lost.